Introduction

Customer Service

Preface

One of the key factors driving Singapores strong economic growth is the countrys
increasing number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that contribute to 46% of
the total value added in the economy. 27% of these SMEs experienced turnover growth
of more than 10% annually1. However one of the major challenges faced by SMEs
today, in their journey towards business distinction, relates to service excellence. The
Global Competitiveness Report ranked Singapore in 18 th place in 2010, in terms of
customer orientation2, with absolute scores being relatively unchanged since 1997. On
the other hand, neighbouring nations like Hong Kong and Thailand, have seen their
scores increase over the same time frame. This emphasises the need for both SMEs
and large companies locally to significantly increase their service levels and productivity
to improve and outperform in the global rankings relating to service.

SPRING Singapore (SPRING) is pleased to introduce the Customer Service Toolkit to

aid SMEs in their efforts to boost their competitiveness. By effectively adopting
customer service excellence practices, SPRING hopes that SMEs can increase their
service, innovation and productivity capabilities to sustain their business growth.

The Customer Service Toolkit provides a simple and effective framework to develop
service excellence in SMEs from the ground up. Five key areas of customer service are
identified and addressed in this Toolkit. An appreciation of the importance of each area
and the benefits to be gained are presented to the user. The Toolkit aims to guide and
facilitate the organisations journey towards achieving greater customer satisfaction
through easy-to-follow tools and worksheets.

1
Adapted from HR Capability Toolkit, Human Capital Singapore, http://www.hcs.com.sg/v1/toolkit.php.
2
The Global Competitiveness report is compiled from surveys carried out by the World
Economic Forum and its partner institutions.

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SPRING hopes that you will find this Toolkit informative and useful in your journey
towards greater service excellence. Special thanks to these companies for their
participation in the development of the Customer Service Toolkit

Retail Industry:

Bossini Pte Ltd

Body Contours Pte Ltd

Nature Landscape Pte Ltd

Nanyang Optical Pte Ltd

Food and Beverage Industry:

Koufu Pte Ltd

Muthus Curry

NYDC Pte Ltd

Zingrill Holdings Pte Ltd

Hospitality Industry:

Frasers Hospitality

Hotel Grand Pacific

Roxy Grand Mercure Hotel

Scarlett Hotel

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Using this Customer Service Toolkit

There are five modules in this Customer Service Toolkit comprising the following:

1. Leadership
2. The Team
3. Culture and Communication
4. Customer Relationships
5. Service Standards

Within each module, there are three sections:

Significance: Explains the importance and relevance of the chapter and the benefits
towards the organisation derived from using the content.

Framework: Provides knowledge and information that can be used to improve an

organisations competency in a specific area. Ideas in this guide can be applied together
or separately depending on the users needs. Tools have also been developed and built
into this section to enable you to quickly implement some of the ideas and concepts
presented.

Links with other concepts: References to content in other chapters which support the
implementation of tools detailed.

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Contents

The Customer Service Toolkit

Using the Customer Service Toolkit

Introduction The Customer Service Framework

Module One Leadership:

Putting leadership at the heart of the service experience

Module Two The Team:

Building a team committed to service

Module Three Culture and Communication:

Developing a culture committed to service

Module Four Customer Relationships:

Know your business, know your customer

Module Five Service Standards:

Delivering to your customers expectations and developing
SOPs

The Customer Service Framework

Customer satisfaction is how your customers feel after interacting with you or your
products, and is affected by a variety of factors which all contribute to the customer
experience as a whole. Customer service is one of the most important drivers of

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customer satisfaction. Customer drivers affect the bottom-line and hence determine the
success of a business.

Customer expectations today are higher, and the choices they have are wider than ever.
To ensure that you meet customer expectations, customer service levels must be
maintained at an optimum level. This involves an integrated approach that involves
almost everyone in the organisation.

This Toolkit distils customer service into five simple pillars, to help your organisation
better serve your customers. They are:

1. Leadership
2. The Team
3. Culture and Communication
4. Customer Relationships
5. Service Standards

Each of these pillars works as basic building blocks. This Toolkit can be used as a whole
or in modules.

The relationship between the pillars is captured in this framework:

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The Customer Service Framework

Performing for your customers

Customer service starts from within the organisation. There are two important factors
within any organisation people and processes. These support each other to determine
service performance. Continued and consistent improvements in customer service
require constant vigilance and self-assessment.

Each of the customer service pillars is described in the following framework, which
demonstrates how customer service contributes to the overall success of a typical
organisation.

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